I have recently invested in a herd of sheep 40 registered purebred friesian, I also bought a used low line 12 sheep/6 units milking machine, I just took over some family land where I am planting grass, alfalfa, oats ,and corn.
My plan is to make a small artisan creamery and produce aged hard/semi hard cheeses.
For 2012 only half the herd will be lambing because the others where too young this breeding season, so the amount of milk will be small
I have began the great learning experience of making and ageing artisan cheeses (Manchego, Gouda, Tomme) with great attention to detail.
For some of the makes I have used organic cow milk from my neighbor's Holsteins and after two months of age I am sampling some of the cheeses, to my surprise the high percentage cow milk are just as good as the sheep milk, so this brings me to my question:
What makes us choose to milk sheep instead of cows? With the same investment I could have bought 10 jersey cows and produce 40,000 liters a year instead of 10,000 Lt (4000 Lt per cow vs. 250 Lt per ewe for 40animals) as much as I like my sheep these numbers,( which I believe are conservative in both cases) don't add up so good in favor of the sheep. of course what I will provably do is just to buy cow milk and be able to make more cheese. but I was wondering if any one has had this question roaming in their head